Pages

Sunday, October 31, 2010

ROUYN-NORANDA, Que. – It was the perfect ending to an unreal road trip.

Playing their fourth game in five days in northern Quebec, the Saint John Sea Dogs showed no signs of fatigue BY trouncing the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 7-0 at the Iamgold Arena in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Sunday evening.

With the victory, Saint John swept their four game road trip against the Val-d’Or Foreurs and the Huskies. Sweeping three games in Quebec is tough enough, but winning four games in the two northwestern communities is almost unheard of.

Stanislav Galiev and Michael Kirkpatrick led the way for Saint John producing two goals apiece. Gabriel Bourret, Mike Thomas, and Danick Gauthier also added goals. Steven Anthony and Stephen MacAulay both had two assists. Goaltender Frederic Piche was not tested too much, stopping 28 shots for the shutout victory.

Saint John simply dominated this game from the beginning to the end. Even in the third period when things got a little wild, the team kept their cool and cruised to victory.

Mickael Audette, who took three roughing penalties in the third period, made 29 saves and allowed six goals on the night. Backup Jeffery Noonan stopped eight-of-nine shots when he came in as relief in the second period.

VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea DogsRecord: 14-3-0-1 (1st in Maritimes Division)Last Game: 3-2 overtime win vs Rouyn-Noranda yesterdayLeading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (18GP-13G-11A-24Pts)Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs come into today’s game with a 14-3-0-1 record which is good for first in the Maritimes and are tied with the Quebec Remparts for first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 29 points. The Remparts have, however, played two fewer games. Saint John was an honourable mention in the BMO CHL Top 10 Rankings this past week… the Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 overtime win against these very same Rouyn-Noranda Huskies last night at Iamgold Arena. Jonathan Huberdeau set up Zach Phillips in the first period, scored a shorthanded goal in the third, and then assisted on Simon Depres’ game winner in overtime. Jacob DeSerres stopped 30 pucks to pick up his second straight win… Saint John has now won four straight games – all on the road. They have wins against Halifax, two in Val-d’Or, and one in Rouyn-Noranda… 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games. Their only loss was a 5-1 defeat in Bathurst… after struggling on the road earlier this season, the Sea Dogs have finally found a winning formula. They are currently 6-3-0-1 away from Harbour Station and have outscored their opponents 38-33 along the way… the Sea Dogs have served the third fewest amount of penalty minutes this season. They have served 207 for an average of 11.5 per game… Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Sea Dogs in points with 24 after a big three point night yesterday. He also leads the team in goals with 13, plus/minus with a +22 rating, and in penalty minutes with 25… Michael Kirkpatrick leads Saint John in assists with 16… Frederic Piche will probably start in net today as the Sea Dogs’ goaltending rotation continues. The 19-year old has a 7-1-0-1 record to go along with a goals against average of 2.53 and save percentage of 0.906%. His GAA places him eighth in the league while his SV% places him eighth as well. He has the seventh most wins in the league… Huberdeau’s +22 rating puts him first in the league in the plus/minus category… Ryan Tesink was a healthy scratch last night but still sits third overall in rookie scoring with 14 points in 16 games… Tyrone Sock did not play yesterday due to the flu.

HOME TEAM: Rouyn-Noranda HuskiesRecord: 4-12-1-1 (6th in Telus West Division)Last Game: 3-2 overtime loss vs Saint John yesterdayLeading Scorer: Robbie DeFulviis (16GP-6G-5A-11Pts)Notes: The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies enter today’s action with a 4-12-1-1 record which is good for last in the Telus West Division and 17th overall in the 18-team Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. If the playoffs started today, the Huskies and Baie-Comeau Drakkar would be the two teams absent… the Huskies are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs yesterday at the Iamgold Arena. Jean-Francois Grenier and former PEI Rocket Jonathan Bonneau each scored for Rouyn-Noranda. Mickael Audette made 29 saves in the loss. The Huskies were able to slow down Saint John’s offensive production, something they will have to do once again today in order to earn a victory… the Huskies have scored the fewest amount of goals this year and have allowed the most against… R-N has lost seven straight matches and have earned a point in only two of them. They are 1-7-1-1 in their last 10 games… 2-6-1-0 at home this season. They are 2-6-0-1 on the road… rookie Robbie DeFulviis had a strong game last night. He continues to lead the Huskies in scoring with 11 points… Jessyko Bernard leads the Huskies in goals with seven… Jerome Raymond and Gabriel O’Conner have a team best six assists… O’Conner is a team worst -19… Mickael Audette has played in the Huskies crease the most of any netminder this season. He is 4-8-1-1 with a 4.10 goals against average and a 0.856 save percentage… Rouyn-Noranda is the 11th youngest team in the QMJHL with an average age of 17.89 years… the club has an average height of 181.52 cm which places them 15th in the league… the Huskies are the 10th heaviest club with an average weight of 80.78 kg… Jason Kelly leads the Huskies in fights with five this season. The team has 18 fights overall this year compared to the Sea Dogs’ seven – the second lowest in the league.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

ROUYN-NORANDA, Que. – Jonathan Huberdeau is proving to be the go to guy on offense this season.

A goal and two assists by Huberdeau helped guide the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 3-2 overtime win in Rouyn-Noranda Saturday evening against the Huskies in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Huberdeau assisted on Zach Phillips’ opening goal, scored a shorthanded marker in the third, and then setup Simon Despres’ game winning goal in the extra session.

It wasn’t a game that will be remembered for its offense. For much of the affair, the two teams just went back-and-forth and had no real momentum or any kind of offensive pressure. But it got the job for the Sea Dogs who will look to sweep their Quebec road swing with a win tomorrow.

Jacob DeSerres played very in net, making some big stops. He made 30 saves to pick up the victory.

The Huskies did all that they could against Saint John with a penalty in overtime being their ultimate demise. Jean-Francois Grenier and Jonathan Bonneau scored for the home team who have know lost seven straight games.

VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea DogsRecord: 13-3-0-1 (2nd in Maritimes Division)Last Game: 7-3 win at Val-d’Or yesterdayLeading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (17GP-12G-9A-21Pts)Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs come into today’s game with a 13-3-0-1 record which places them second in the Maritimes Division and third overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They sit behind the second place Moncton Wildcats by a single point – but the ‘Cats have played two more games than Saint John. The Sea Dogs were an honourable mention in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings this week… the Sea Dogs are coming off a dominating performance against the Foreurs in Val-d’Or last night, winning the match 7-3 to make it a two straight wins in Val-d’Or for the club. Stanislav Galiev had a pair of goals while single markers were recorded by Gabriel Bourett, Zach Phillips, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mike Thomas and Simon Despres. Frederic Piche faced just 16 shots on the night… a couple of things to note from last night’s win on the health front. Simon Despres has had a bit of nagging lower body injury but played both Wednesday and Friday night. He was hit hard in the first period last night and was seen gripping his shoulder but stayed in the game. Aidan Kelly also left the game for a brief period after taking a big hit and Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant was not behind the bench because he was feeling under the weather… Saint John is 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games and won three straight – all on the road. Their three consecutive victories came last Saturday in Halifax, Wednesday in Val-d’Or, and last night’s match… 5-3-0-1 on the road this season. They have now outscored their opponents 35-31 along the way… this is the third game of a massive four game road trip through northern Quebec and the sixth straight game away from Harbour Station… Jonathan Huberdeau leads Saint John in points with 21 this season, goals with 12, penalty minutes with 23, and is a team best +20… Michael Kirkpatrick sits second in team scoring and has a team best 15 assists… Tomas Jurco has still not taken a penalty this season after 17 games played… Jacob DeSerres will likely get the call between the pipes this evening. He played his first career QMJHL game against the Huskies back at Harbour Station two weeks ago today, shutting them out 2-0. He has a 3.00 goals against average, a 0.889 save percentage, and a 2-1-0-0 record. His last game was on Wednesday in a 5-4 win over the Foreurs.

Saint John defeated Rouyn-Noranda earlier this season, with overage goaltender Jacob DeSerres having blanked the Huskies 2-0 in his QMJHL debut back on October 16. Vancouver Canucks prospect Steven Anthony and Washington Capitals prospect Stanislav Galiev both found the back of the net for the home team in that match, while Team Captain Mike Thomas led all Sea Dogs skaters with three hits on the night.

KIRKPATRICK LOOKING TO MAKE HISTORY
Veteran centre Michael Kirkpatrick has accumulated 19 points this season on four goals and 15 assists. Kirkpatrick enters this weekend's action needing two goals to tie fellow Cape Bretoner Ryan Sparling for the all-time Sea Dogs record with 83 career markers.

HOME TEAM: Rouyn-Noranda HuskiesRecord: 4-12-0-1 (6th in Telus West Division)Last Game: 9-4 loss vs Val-d’Or SaturdayLeading Scorer: Robbie DeFulviis (15GP-6G-5A-11Pts)Notes: The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies enter tonight’s affair with a 4-12-0-1 record which places them last in the Telus West Division and 17th overall in the 18-team Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They sit four points ahead of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar for last place and are two points behind the 16th ranked Halifax Mooseheads. They are the definition of a rebuilding team… the Huskies are coming off a 9-4 home loss against the Val-d’Or Foreurs last Saturday. Jessyko Bernard had two goals while Jason Houde and Maxim Kazakov added singles. Goaltenders Mickael Audette and Jeffery Noonan combined to allow nine goals on 34 shots. The Huskies actually outshot the Foreurs 40-34 in the game… 1-8-0-1 in their last 10 games and have lost six straight games, picking up a point in just one of them… they are 2-6-0-0 at home this season and have been outscored 44-19 along the way… the Huskies have the 16th best power play with a rating of 0.123%... owners of the 14th best penalty kill with a rating of 0.756%... Robbie DeFulviis leads the Huskies in scoring with 11 points in 15 games… Jessyko Bernard leads the team in goals with seven… Jerome Raymond has a team high six assists… former Sea Dogs defenseman Robert McEwan has two assists, four penalty minutes, and a -9 rating in nine games with Rouyn-Noranda… Rouyn-Noranda is the 11th youngest team in the QMJHL with an average age of 17.89 years… the club has an average height of 181.52 cm which places them 15th in the league… the Huskies are the 10th heaviest club with an average weight of 80.78 kg… this is the 501st home game for the Huskies franchise. They celebrated their 500th home game last Saturday… Jason Kelly leads the Huskies in fights with five this season. The team has 18 fights overall this year compared to the Sea Dogs’ seven – the second lowest in the league.

Friday, October 29, 2010

VAL-D’OR, Que. – The road woes are clearing up for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

A dominating performance by the Sea Dogs at the Air Creebec Centre in Val-d’Or tonight gave the visitors a 7-3 win over the Foreurs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Coming off a dramatic 5-4 win over the same Foreurs team on Wednesday night, it was thought that this may be an intense and close battle. But that was not the case as the Sea Dogs stomped over the home team, keeping them to just 16 shots in the night.

Stanislav Galiev had a pair of goals while single markers were recorded by Gabriel Bourett, Zach Phillips, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mike Thomas and Simon Despres. Frederic Piche put in a solid outing in goal, doing his job and stopping 13 shots on the night.

As you can see in the video, the Saint John Sea Dogs were featured in some kind of infomercial awhile back for the special CHL paintings that were sold at every rink a couple of years ago. It looks like it was photoshoped in so every team probably had a video feature at one point.

The guy (and the dog) in the video are certainly not the Shamwow guy as far as salesman go.

VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea DogsRecord: 12-3-0-1 (2nd in Maritimes Division)Last Game: 5-4 win at Val-d’Or Wednesday Leading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (16GP-11G-9A-20Pts) Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter play tonight with a 12-3-0-1 record which is good for second in the Maritimes Division and fourth overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The club sits second overall in the league in terms of winning percentage. They were an honourable mention in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings this week… the Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-4 win over theForeurs on Wednesday night at the Air Creebec Centre. Ryan Tesink scored a pair while singles came from Aidan Kelly, Zach Phillips, and Jonathan Huberdeau. Jacob DeSerres picked up the win in goal… Saint John is currently 2-1-0-0 on their epic six game road swing which continues tonight and ends with a pair of games in Rouyn-Noranda on the weekend. The Sea Dogs have had their struggles on the road and are 4-3-0-1 with 28 goals for as well as against… Saint John has the third best penalty killing unit in the league with a rating of 0.848%. On the road, they are running at 0.846% while a man down… Saint John has been struggling of the power play and have the 13th best unit in the 18 team circuit at 0.176%... Jonathan Huberdeau leads Saint John in points with 20 and in goals with 11. He is also a team best +18… Michael Kirkpatrick leads the squad in assists with 14 in just 16 matches… Ryan Tesink is coming into this game hot. He recorded two goals and two assists in Wednesday’s win. He sits third in rookie scoring with five goals and nine assists in 14 games… Frederic Piche will likely get the start in goal this evening as Saint John moves forward with their goaltending rotation. Piche is 6-1-0-1 with a 2.47 goals against average and a 0.912 save percentage… Stanislav Galiev’s slow start continues to grow longer. He has five goals and two assists in 12 games but is a team worst -5… on a random note, tonight will be the 363rd game in franchise history.

KIRKPATRICK STILL TRYING TO MAKE HISTORY
From the Sea Dogs website:

Veteran centre Michael Kirkpatrick has also accumulated 18 points this season on four goals and fourteen assists. Kirkpatrick enters this week’s action needing two goals to tie fellow Cape Bretoner Ryan Sparling for the all-time Sea Dogs record with 83 career markers.

HOME TEAM: Val-d’Or ForeursRecord: 10-6-2-0 (3rd in Telus West Division)Last Game: 5-4 loss vs Saint John WednesdayLeading Scorer: Jonathan Hazen (14GP-7G-10A-17Pts)Notes: The Val-d’Or Foreurs come into today’s game with a 10-6-2-0 record which puts them third in the Telus West Division and eighth overall in the QMJHL… the Foreurs are coming off a 5-4 loss to the Sea Dogs on Wednesday at home. The team led 4-2 going into the third period but allowed the game to slip away. Olivier Archambault, Gabriel Beaupre, Jean-Francois Leblanc, and Guillaume Naud all scored for the home team in the loss. Jacob Chouinard picked up the loss in net… at the Air Creebec Centre this season, the Foreurs are 5-3-1-0 and have outscored their opponents 32-28 along the way… Jonathan Hazen leads the team in points with 17… Olivier Archambault leads the northwestern Quebec team in goals with nine… left winger Marc-Alain Begin has a team high 11 assists… missing Wednesday’s game were Cedrick Henley with a wrist injury, Mathieu Theriault also has a wrist injury, while Anthony Taylor hurt his foot blocking a shot on Saturday versus Rouyn-Noranda. No word if any of these players will hit the ice tonight… Jacob Chouinard has seen the majority of playing time on goal for Val-d’Or this season. He has a 7-6-1-0 record to go along with a 3.38 goals against average and a 0.889 save percentage… Brett Hester has been suspended for two games following his check from behind of Guillaume Cloutier in Wednesday’s game against Saint John… Jean-Francois Leblanc had a goal and two assists on Wednesday versus the Sea Dogs.

PINK IN THE RINK
The Foreurs will be wearing pink jersey’s this evening to help raise money for breast cancer research as all 18 QMJHL teams have done over the month of October. The minimum bid is $150 per jersey.

FLASHBACK
There is a former Sea Dog on the Foreurs in Nicolas Larocque-Marcoux. In nine games with the Shawinigan Cataractes earlier this season, Marcoux had four assists. He made his Foreurs debut Wednesday and recorded one assist.

Drafted by Saint John in the ninth round of the 2008 QMJHL Entry Draft, Marcoux played in three career games with the Sea Dogs in 2008-09, recording no points, two penalty minutes, and was a -1.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Val-d’Or Foreurs left winger Brett Hester has been suspended for two games by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League after an incident in a 5-4 loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs on Wednesday night.

The play happened at 8:34 of the second period at the Air Creebec Centre, just 25 seconds after a Zach Phillips goal cut the Foreurs’ lead to one. Hester entered the Saint John zone where rookie defenseman Guillaume Cloutier was standing and nailed him from behind, causing a big scrum in the corner.

Cloutier was attended to on the ice by Sea Dogs athletic therapist Jeff Kelly before skating back to the bench under his own power.

Hester, a Val-d’Or native, was given a game misconduct and a five minute major penalty for checking from behind.

The QMJHL announced today that the forward has been suspended for a couple of matches. The Foreurs play the Sea Dogs tomorrow night at 8:30 pm at the Air Creebec Centre and visit the Victoriaville Tigres on Thursday.

In 13 games this season, the 16-year old has two goals and no assists.

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHESNews 88.9 reported that Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Simon Despres has been suffering from a lower body injury and was a game time decision. He did play however, forcing Tyrone Sock out of the lineup. Scott Oke sat out as the extra forward.

DOGS WIN A THRILLER
It was not the prettiest thing ever but it was certainly the most exciting victory of the season for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs defeated the Val-d’Or Foreurs 5-4 last evening in dramatic fashion in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at the Air Creebec Centre. Saint John entered the third period down 4-2 but climbed back to win the match 5-4 in a fast paced, action packed third period.

“We played a pretty solid game and we had a lot of scoring chances,’’ Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said to the Telegraph-Journal, singing a much different tune than after Saturday’s win in Halifax. “We had a couple of little letdowns, but we played hard. I thought for the most part it was a consistent effort from our team.’’

The Foreurs opened the scoring at 4:40 after the bounce in behind the Saint John goal caused a turnover. The puck eventually found the stick on Olivier Archambault to make it a 1-0 game. But the Sea Dogs responded at 12:08 after a Foreurs turnover in the offensive zone. Ryan Tesink threaded a pass to Aidan Kelly at the side of the goal to tie the match at 1-1 heading to intermission.

But the wheels began to fall off for the Sea Dogs in the second period. On a delayed penalty call against the Sea Dogs, Gabriel Beaupre beat Jacob DeSerres up high to give Val-d’Or their lead back. Then Jean-Francois Leblanc deflected a shot past the Sea Dogs goaltender to make it 3-1.

Zach Phillips would make it a one goal game again at 11:09 when he blasted a puck by Jacob Chouinard after a nice cross ice pass. But the home team responded again as Guillaume Naud scored at 17:31 to give his squad a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame.

In the third, Saint John’s comeback began when Ryan Tesink fed Jonathan Huberdeau who scored on a hard wrist shot to make it 4-3. Then the two connected again, this time with Huberdeau picking up the assist and Tesink recording the goal to tie the match at 4-4.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

VAL-D’OR, Que – It was another ugly second period of hockey for the Saint John Sea Dogs. But unlike in past games this season, the Sea Dogs responded.

Saint John scored three goals in the third period to comeback and beat the Val-d’Or Foreurs 5-4 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Wednesday night at the Air Creebec Centre. This after the home team scored three goals of their own in the second frame.

Aidan Kelly, Zach Phillips, and Jonathan Huberdeau all scored singles – but the hero on this night was Ryan Tesink. The rookie setup Huberdeau’s goal in the third period to make it 4-3, then tied the game, and eventually won the match on an odd goal that he batted in with his stick.

The Sea Dogs played from behind for the most part of the game and were once again caught being inconsistent. But, at least on this night, the Sea Dogs were good enough when they had to be to pick up their fourth road victory of the season.

Jacob DeSerres played well in net for Saint John, making some key stops and some big saves in the third period.

Olivier Archambault, Gabriel Beaupre, Jean-Francois Leblanc, and Guillaume Naud all scored for the Foreurs. Jacob Chouinard played well in net while picking up the loss.

FIRST PERIOD
Olivier Archambault had the first good chance of the game when he fed Nicolas Marcoux down low but he whiffed on the shot. Saint John came right back with their own solid opportunity with Jonathan Huberdeau walking out in front but only getting a weak backhand shot off.

Val-d’Or made it 1-0 at 4:40 after a Saint John an odd bounce behind the net. Jean-Francois Leblanc sent a short pass across the crease to Archambault who had an open net to open the scoring.

After the Foreurs continued to mount some offensive pressure, Saint John began to fight back. Michael Kirkpatrick sent a pass to Stanislav Galiev who sprung loose on a partial break but couldn’t get a good shot off. Then a Stephen MacAulay shot rebound to Mike Thomas is front but was robbed by the pad of Jacob Chouinard.

After Kevin Gagne had a good shot stopped, Zach Phillips entered the zone and riffled a shot off the outside of the post.

At 12:08, a defensive turnover by the Foreurs in their own zone was capitalized on. Ryan Tesink found the puck at the circle and fed Aidan Kelly who was parked at the side of the cage. That tied the game at 1-1.

The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 16:58 to the dismay of the Foreurs faithful. On the man advantage, Phillips threaded a great pass to Steven Anthony but had his stick lifted just above the crease area.

Shots in the opening frame were 12-11 Val-d’Or.

SECOND PERIOD
On a delayed penalty at 0:51, Gabriel Beaupre let a point shot go that appeared to hit something on the way by. The puck went up and over DeSerres and found the corner to make it 2-1 Val-d’Or.

The Sea Dogs had some good scoring chances following the marker. Galiev centered to Anthony who had a wide open net but was absolutely robbed by Chouinard. Following a big Mike Thomas hit on Shawn Boutin, Nathan Beaulieu ripped a one timer but was stopped. The stretch ended with Kirkpatrick shooting wide on a partial break.

The Foreurs made it a two goal game at 8:23. A shot was deflected by Leblanc in front with DeSerres having no chance to stop the puck to make it 3-1.

Following the goal, Brett Hester destroyed Guillaume Cloutier in the corner, causing a big scrum in the corner. Cloutier was attended to and stayed on the teams bench while Hester was given a game misconduct and a four minute checking from behind penalty. Beaulieu was given a roughing penalty on the play.

On the power play, a cross ice pass was accepted by Phillips who had an open net. He made mo mistake and made it a 3-2 game. Despite some good pressure, that was the only goal the Dogs could get on the man advantage.

Jurco was left all alone in front but his one timer was blocked nicely by Beaupre, who already had a full cage on his helmet from an earlier injury in the game.

The Foreurs got their two goal lead back at 17:31 when Guillaume Naud sent a shot through traffic that beat DeSerres to make it 4-2 going into intermission.

Shots in the second stanza were 12-9 Saint John.

THIRD PERIOD
After a back-and-forth first few minutes, Touchette had the first chance in the period by trying to center the puck from the corner. His pass hit DeSerres however and stayed out.

With Gabriel Bourret in the box, Saint John had a couple of shorthanded opportunities. Danick Gauthier had the first, being stopped on a backhand shot in close. Then on a breakaway Kirkpatrick tried a deke to the backhand but was absolutely stoned by Chouinard in the Foreurs crease.

Just as Bourret stepped out of the box, Tesink dropped a pass to Huberdeau who kept the puck and waited until he centered himself in the offensive zone. Huberdeau then fired a wrist shot that beat Chouinard to make it a one goal game.

Then 40 seconds later, Huberdeau drove to the net and forced Chouinard to give up a big rebound. Tesink had the open cage and swept the puck in to tie the affair at 4-4.

Play opened up after the game was all square once again. A Val-d’Or three-on-one was stopped by DeSerres and then Jurco was sprung on a breakaway only to be stopped by Chouinard.

But with a just a couple of minutes to go in the game, a turnover behind the Val-d’Or net gave Tesink the puck at the side of the net. The Saint John native batted the puck on net and it snuck in just under the crossbar to give the Dogs a 5-4 lead. Play continued even though the light went on. It would eventually be reviewed and called a good goal.

The Foreurs pulled their net minder in the final minute but to no avail as the visitors went on to victory.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow.

NEXT GAME: Saint John plays this same Foreurs team on Friday night at 8:30 pm.

The Sea Dogs’ poor defensive game led to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan rolling over the team 5-1 last Friday at the KC Irving Regional Centre. Edmonton Oilers prospect Olivier Roy also put on show in goal, stopping Saint John’s dangerous offence with some key saves.

Saint John put forth a better effort on Saturday, defeating the Halifax Mooseheads 5-3 at the Metro Centre. Despite picking up the win, the Sea Dogs’ coaching staff still was not happy with their squad’s performance.

The Sea Dogs were, however, an honourable mention following their 1-1-0-0 week.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League had four teams in the Top 10 this week: the Quebec Remparts, Moncton Wildcats, Drummondville Voltigeurs, and Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

The weekly rankings of the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.

VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea DogsRecord: 11-3-0-1 (3rd in Maritimes Division)Last Game: 5-3 win at Halifax SaturdayLeading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (15GP-10G-8A-18Pts) and Michael Kirkpatrick (15GP-4G-14A-18Pts)Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter play this evening with a record of 11-3-0-1, good for third place in the Maritimes Division and fifth overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They were ranked 10th in last week’s edition of the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings… Saint John is coming off a 5-3 victory at the Halifax Metro Centre versus the Mooseheads on Saturday. Tomas Jurco, Stanislav Galiev, Jonathan Huberdeau, Danick Gauthier, and Zach Phillips all scored for the winners. Frederic Piche made 29 stops in net. It was a fairly well played game by the Dogs but head coach Gerard Gallant was still not impressed by it, calling out his team in the newspaper on Monday… the Sea Dogs have had their struggles on the road this season. While being without a loss at home this year, Saint John has played average hockey at best on the road and have a record of 3-3-0-1. They have been outscored 29-28 along the way… Saint John has the fourth best road penalty killing unit in the league with a rating of 0.840%. Overall, the Sea Dogs’ penalty kill sits third overall in the league at 0.846%... Jonathan Huberdeau and Michael Kirkpatrick lead the team in points with 18, averaging just over a point-per-game… Huberdeau and Tomas Jurco lead Saint John in goals this year with 10 each. Zach Phillips is a close second with eight markers… Kirkpatrick leads the team in assists with 14. Defenseman Pierre Durepos is second with nine helpers in 15 games… Huberdeau has a team best +17 rating but also leads the club in penalty minutes with 23… Tomas Jurco still has not served a penalty minute this season despite playing in all 15 matches… Jacob DeSerres will likely get the call in net this evening. He has a 1-1-0-0 record to go along with a 2.50 goals against average and a 0.889 save percentage. He last played Friday night in a 5-1 loss in Bathurst… Ryan Tesink has fallen to ninth in rookie scoring with three goals and seven assists for 10 points.

The Sea Dogs dominated their season series with the Foreurs last year, winning all three of the head-to-head matchups between the two teams by a combined score of 26-6. Saint John converted on 40.0% (6-for-15) of their power play opportunities against Val-d’Or last season while going 13-for-14 (92.9%) on the penalty kill. Then-rookie Jonathan Huberdeau registered an amazing 5G-4A-9P in his three games played against the Foreurs in 2009-10.

KIRKY READY TO MAKE HISTORY
Another interesting tidbit from the Sea Dogs website to watch for this week:

Veteran centre Michael Kirkpatrick has also accumulated 18 points this season on four goals and fourteen assists. Kirkpatrick enters this week’s action needing two goals to tie fellow Cape Bretoner Ryan Sparling for the all-time Sea Dogs record with 83 career markers.

HOME TEAM: Val-d’Or ForeursRecord: 10-5-2-0 (Third in Telus West Division)Last Game: 9-4 win at Rouyn-Noranda SaturdayLeading Scorer: Jonathan Hazen (13GP-7G-10A-17Pts)Notes: The Val-d’Or Foreurs enter this evenings contest with a record of 10-5-2-0 which puts them third in the Telus West Division behind the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Montreal Juniors. Their record puts them seventh overall in the 18-team QMJHL… the Foreurs are coming off a rough 9-4 win in Rouyn-Noranda against the rival Huskies on Saturday, a match that saw the two teams combine for 78 penalty minutes. Jonathan Hazen scored a hat trick for the winners while Olivier Archambault and Jen-Francois Leblanc added a pair with singles coming from Alexandre Carrier and Mathieu Theriault. Francois Tremblay made 36 saves in net for the victory… 6-2-2-0 in their last 10 games… Val-d’Or is 5-2-1-0 at the Air Creebec Centre this season and have outscored their opponents 27-23 along the way… the Foreurs are fourth overall in the league in penalty minutes with 314 in 17 games. They are currently averaging 18.5 penalty minutes per game… Val-d’Or is second in the league with 23 fights. Adam Jones leads the way with six rounds of fisticuffs this year… Jonathan Hazen leads the team in points with 17 in just 13 games… Olivier Archambault, the first overall pick in the 2009 QMJHL Entry Draft, leads the Foreurs in goals this season with eight. Hazen and Alexandre Touchette are a close second with seven markers each… Marc-Alain Begin leads the club in helpers with 11.

HURTIN’
According to the Val-d'Or newspaper L’Echo Abitibien, Cedrick Henley is not expected to play tonight because of an injured wrist. The winger has four goals and five assists in 12 games. Mathieu Theriault also has a wrist injury while Anthony Taylor hurt his foot blocking a shot on Saturday versus Rouyn-Noranda.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Saint John Sea Dogs begin their longest Quebec road swing of the season tomorrow night when they visit the Val-d’Or Foreurs at 8:30 pm. The team then plays the Foreurs again on Friday night prior to making the trek to Rouyn-Noranda on Saturday for a pair games on the weekend versus the Huskies.

After coming off two road games last weekend, these four games will make it six straight away from home – Saint John’s longest trip of the season.

The Sea Dogs will be looking to improve some of their road woes over next quartet of matches. At 3-3-0-1 on the road, all of Saint John’s loses have come on the road this season. They have been outscored 24-23 along the way.

In most of the Sea Dogs road games, including the loses, they dominated at some point of the game or at least played at par with the opposing team for part of it. It is that kind of inconsistency that the Sea Dogs need to change.

Head coach Gerard Gallant has showed his frustration in the Telegraph-Journal over the past few weeks, but things continue to stay the same on the road.

"We had another great, dominant first period and then we went to sleep again,'' Gallant said after the Sea Dogs’ last road game – a 5-3 win – in Halifax on Saturday. "It's the same old thing with these guys - they cheat.

"All they want is their points. They're cheaters. They won 5-3, but they shouldn't be happy with the way they played. I'm fed up with it.''

Gallant appeared to start sending a stronger message on Saturday, making second year defenseman Gabriel Bourret a healthy scratch. Rookies Tyrone Sock and Guillaume Cloutier both appeared in the line-up instead.

The Sea Dogs’ perfect record on home ice can only last so long, so starting to click on the road is a must.

When Atlantic based teams go this far into Quebec, it basically allows for any kind of craziness to become accepted. Even though Rouyn-Noranda will sit in the bottom five of the standings at the end of the season, games in the city are never easy.

According to DistanceCalculater.com, the road between Saint John and Val-d’Or stretches somewhere between 1091.18 km to 1186.06 km. The distance between Val-d’Or and Rouyn-Noranda is roughly 108 km.

Every game can be heard on News 88.9 and we will have your pre-game and live blog posted on this very site.

Monday, October 25, 2010

DOUBLE-O
Former Sea Dogs forward Olivier Ouellet has resurfaced in Quebec. The crafty center is currently playing with the Inouk de Granby in the Quebec ‘AAA’ ranks and has seven goals and four assists in 11 games but is also a -8.

Ouellet left the Sea Dogs during the first half of last season and eventually ended up playing in 25 games with Shawinigan Cataractes last year. In 48 career games with Saint John, he had 14 goals and 24 assists.

The 20-year old was always regarded as a solid second line player, but had a hard time finding ice time last year with the likes of Steven Anthony, Tomas Jurco, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Zach Phillips available to fill that role.

(Ed. Note: Props to Stacie for sending this in.)

‘EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOCKEY EDITION’According to the Vancouver Canucks website, the team is looking for Steven Anthony to perform an “Extreme Makeover: Hockey Edition.” The site says that they are hoping Anthony “can ditch that nice guy persona on the ice” and add some nastiness to his game.

“After the game (Canucks assistant coach) Rick (Bowness) just said that for me to play like I did in that Calgary game, playing every shift as hard as I can, hitting guys, skating and moving my feet, he said play like that in Saint John and do it consistently and that I’ll have success,” said Anthony about a Canucks pre-season game. “So that’s what I took back from Vancouver and I think that’s going to help me this season.”

Anthony also spoke about where he sees the Sea Dogs team heading this year.

“I think we do have all the tools in place to repeat as league champs and hopefully win it all this time instead of losing in the finals. We had a weekend early on where we played Moncton, Montreal and Rimouski, three teams that are near the top of the league and we won all three games.”

(Ed Note: Thanks to SN reader Cody for sending this in)

GELINAS PUT ON WAIVERS
Our friend Michael Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post informed us last week that former Sea Dogs goaltender Marc-Antoine Gelinas has been put on waivers by the Central Hockey League’s Odessa Jackalopes. The Jackalopes are the ‘AA’ affiliate of the New York Islanders.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Saint John Sea Dogs CEO Scott McCain went on News 95.7 during the second intermission of Saturday’s 5-3 win in Halifax against the Mooseheads.

In an interview with Mooseheads play-by-play man John Moore, the topic of hosting the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup came up, a tournament in which both Saint John and Halifax have begun bidding on.

Here is what McCain had to said when asked about Saint John’s chances of landing the tournament:

"Well it’s a good question, John. We do have a bid in amongst four teams: Halifax, Shawinigan, Cape Breton, and ourselves. I would say that our intention is to move forward, albeit we are going through some financial analysis to make sure that this thing works on a financial basis. There have been some challenges, there’s some economic uncertainty out there, there’s a number of other factors that are going to play into this. But at this point we still plan to move forward. But, again, we should make a final decision certainly, probably by November. I fully expect we will but it’s not without some challenges."

When asked about the submission deadline:

"The deadline I think is in late November - and then we’ll know for sure. We’re moving forward as if we are going to go ahead because we think that at the end of the day we feel that our hockey team is ready for it next year. Our team is still quite young. We’ve got a lot of 17 and 18 year olds that should peak in 2012 which is the year that somebody from the ‘Q’ will host the Memorial Cup. So we feel good about the hockey operation side of it and we feel good on the business side albeit that, you know, the economy in New Brunswick is not in the best of shape and that concerns us deeply. But we’re evaluating it and we’re putting our best foot forward and moving forward as if we’re going full blast."

According to a QMJHL press release, “a brief which underlines the ability of bidding franchises to host the event must then be forwarded to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s head office prior to November 30th, 2010.”

Obviously, the three other teams are likely going through the same process right now to ensure that this tournament can be a financial success for their club. But it is interesting to hear some slight concerns from the Sea Dogs moving forward as the team has not expressed many over the past few months.

Although McCain seems confident in moving forward, you have to wonder how Sea Dogs fans would feel if the organization decided to drop their bid. After all, Saint John has been telling fans about this bid for over a year now.

But on the other hand, and this is all speculation, maybe Sea Dogs management is going this route of showing some minor concerns to get the community behind the bid. Just look at the Subway Super Series. Despite radio commercials and ads at Harbour Station stating that selling-out this event will give Saint John’s Memorial Cup hosting chances a boost, the game still has great seats available with just two weeks to go.

But on the other, other hand, this could all be meaningless and the Sea Dogs will be moving forward with, hopefully, a winning bid.

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant made a statement by scratching second year defenseman Gabriel Bourret. News 88.9 said that it was a “coach’s decision.” Rookies Guillaume Cloutier and Tyrone Sock filled the void on the backend.

Aidan Kelly, who had a strong game Friday in Bathurst, was the other healthy scratch. Jason Cameron was inserted into the lineup.

A BETTER PERFORMANCE
After a not so solid night in Bathurst the night prior, the Saint John Sea Dogs bounced back with a 5-3 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday night at the Metro Centre.

It was a better match for the Sea Dogs who struggled all around in Friday’s 5-1 road loss to the Titan. The offense clicked, the defensive coverage was much improved, and goaltender Frederic Piche came up huge when called upon.

"Saint John is a strong team," said Mooseheads forward Matthew Boudreau to the Chronicle Herald.

"They’ve got three good lines that can score and the fourth line is pretty good, too. We had to come out hard tonight but we gave up some (weak) goals at the beginning of the first period. That made it hard."

The first of those “weak” first period goals came at 7:31 when Guillaume Cloutier fired a point shot. Herd goaltender Anthony Terenzio made the stop but could not control the rebound, allowing Tomas Jurco to bat the puck by him to make it a 1-0 game.

With the referee’s arm up and the Sea Dogs about to go to the power play, Stanislav Galiev found the puck in close and found on open hole to make it a 2-0 Sea Dogs lead at 9:06.

The Mooseheads began their climb back in the second period as Andrew Ryan scored 57 seconds in to cut Saint John’s lead to one. But the Sea Dogs would respond just under two minutes later when Danick Gauthier sent a backhand shot past Terenzio on yet another delayed penalty call to get the Sea Dogs’ two goal lead back.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

HALIFAX, NS – After a rough outing in Bathurst on Friday night, the Saint John Sea Dogs bounced back on Saturday.

Led by goals from Tomas Jurco, Stanislav Galiev, Danick Gauthier, Zach Phillips, and Jonathan Huberdeau, the Sea Dogs defeated the Halifax Mooseheads 5-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at the Halifax Metro Centre.

A strong goaltending performance by Frederic Piche also helped things out as he stopped 29 of 32 shots for the win. Simon Despres recorded three assists.

The Mooseheads had goals from Andrew Ryan, Carl Gelinas, and Brent Andrews while Anthony Terenzio stopped 39-of-44 shots in the loss.

Saint John had a much better effort than they did in their 5-1 loss against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday night. The Sea Dogs defense was much, much better and helped guide the Dogs to their third road win of the year.

FIRST PERIOD
Zach Phillips had the first chance of the game early in the first. He let a one timer go through traffic from the circle but was denied by the pad of Anthony Terenzio in the Mooseheads crease.

The Sea Dogs were called for too many men at 4:06. On the power play, Matthew Boudreau was stopped in close and it produced a huge scramble in the crease. The puck came out to Martin Frk who let a shot go that was stopped by the leg of Frederic Piche.

Saint John opened the scoring at 7:31 after Guillaume Cloutier riffled a point shot. The puck produced a short rebound in front where Tomas Jurco batted it by Terenzio to make it 1-0.

Not long after at 9:06, Sawyer Hannay leveled Stanislav Galiev from behind. The Sea Dogs got the extra attacker on the ice and started to pour the pressure on.Nathan Beaulieu sent a pass down low to Michael Kirkpatrick who let a shot go. The puck then sat in crease before Galiev found it and scored to make it a 2-0 game.

The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 12:36 but the Sea Dogs could not get any offense generated.

After Piche denied Frk on a partial break, Jason Cameron was stopped by the pad of Terenzio on a quality scoring opportunity.

The Sea Dogs went back to the power play at 17:58 with Travis Randell in the box. Kirkpatrick had the best chance when he fanned on a one time shot in the crease. With the man advantage over, Tomas Jurco let a onetimer from the circle go but the puck somehow stayed out.

Shots in the period were 17-9 Saint John.

SECOND PERIOD
Andrew Ryan got the Mooseheads on the board just 57 seconds in. Ryan shot the puck from a sharp angle but was stopped by Piche. He picked up his own rebound and walked through the crease to get his fourth of the season and make it a 2-1 game.

But on yet another delayed penalty call, Kirkpatrick shot the puck right on but Terenzio let go another rebound. Danick Gauthier found the puck and backhanded it by the Moose netminder to give the Sea Dogs their two goal lead back.

The Sea Dogs had some solid scoring chances following the goal. Kirkpatrick let go a good shot at the side of the net and then Huberdeau cut through the crease but couldn’t get a shot off. The Sea Dogs forward was given a questionable goaltender interference call on the play but Saint John would kill it off.

Saint John went to the power play at 9:11 but they could not score. Then Ryan was called for slashing at 13:06 but the Dogs could not find the back of the net once again despite some pressure.

After Stephen MacAulay had a decent scoring chance on a hard wrist shot, the Sea Dogs would go to the penalty kill when Gauthier tripped Frk at 15:31. Frk had the best scoring opportunity during the span but was robbed by the pads of Piche.

After Frk hit the crossbar at 19:42, Beaulieu threw him onto the ice and would be called for roughing. When the buzzer sounded, MacAulay was called for slashing to give the Moose a lengthy two man advantage to open the third.

Shots in the middle stanza were 14-13 Saint John.

THIRD PERIOD
The Mooseheads made it a 3-2 game just 45 seconds into the two-man power play. Carl Gelinas banged in a Piche rebound at the side of the net to cut Saint John’s lead to one goal.

Jonathan Huberdeau had a good scoring chance when he got through the Halifax defense. He tried to get a shot off but had his stick lifted at the last minute. Halifax came back the other way and almost tied the affair when a shot went straight through the crease with Piche having no knowledge of where the puck was. Then Gelinas had a partial break for the Herd but was stopped.

Charles Bety and MacAulay ran hard into the end boards close to the halfway point of the frame. Bety had to be helped off the ice and went straight to the dressing room.

The Sea Dogs got their two goal lead back once again at 7:33. Pierre Durepos made a nice play at the line to keep the puck in. He then sent a beautiful cross ice pass down low to Phillips who had a wide open cage to make it a 4-2 game.

Saint John really took over the play until Galiev was given a questionable interference call at 14:06. On the man advantage, a Frk shot was stopped by Piche but the rebound sat at the lip of the crease. Brent Andrews found it and beat the Saint John goaltender five-hole to make it 4-3.

But at 16:05, Huberdeau entered the zone and shot the disc from a bad angle, beating Terenzio between the pads to make it a 5-3 final.

Shots in the final frame were 13-10 for the visitors.

The Mooseheads were 2/6 on the power play while the Sea Dogs were 0/4.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Val-d’Or on Wednesday to face the Foreurs at 8:30 pm.

VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea DogsRecord: 10-3-0-1 (3rd in Maritimes Division)Last Game: 5-1 loss at Bathurst last nightLeading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (14GP-9G-8A-17Pts)Note: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter tonight’s game with a 10-3-0-1 record which is good for third in Maritimes Division and fifth overall in the QMJHL. They have, however, played two fewer games then the division leading Moncton Wildcats and the second place Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Saint John was ranked 10th in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings this week… the Sea Dogs are coming off a rough 5-1 loss in Bathurst last night. Despite outshooting the Titan by 13 shots, goaltender Olivier Roy put in an all-star performance by stopping 36 of 37 shots. Zach Phillips scored the lone goal for Saint John while Jacob DeSerres and the Sea Dogs defense struggled at times… if the Sea Dogs’ goaltending rotation continues to hold true, Frederic Piche will get the call between the pipes tonight. The 19-year old has a record of 5-1-0-1, a 2.40 goals against average, and a 0.913 save percentage… one of the storylines of the season so far has been the Sea Dogs’ dominance at home and their struggles on the road. Saint John is 2-3-0-1 away from Harbour Station this year and have been outscored 21-18 in the process… 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 games and are coming off a loss. Before last night’s game, Saint John had won five straight… this is the second game of a six-game road swing for the Dogs. They head to northern Quebec later this week… Jonathan Huberdeau still leads the Sea Dogs in points with 17 despite going pointless last night. He is also tied with Tomas Jurco for the team lead in goals with nine… Michael Kirkpatrick leads the team in assists with 12… Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant juggled his lines late in the game yesterday. The line of Huberdeau, Jurco, and Zach Phillips saw each player have a +1 rating… Saint John has the third best road penalty kill with a rating of 0.895%... the Dogs are 2-0-0-0 against the Mooseheads this year.

HOME TEAM: Halifax MooseheadsRecord: 5-10-0-1 (5th in Maritimes Division)Last Game: 7-2 loss vs Cape Breton last nightLeading Scorer: Martin Frk (16GP-6G-9A-15Pts)Notes: The Halifax Mooseheads come into this evenings match with a record of 5-10-0-1 and currently sit fifth in the six team Maritimes Division and 15th in the 18 team QMJHL… the Mooseheads are 3-6-0-1 in their last 10 games and are coming off a loss… Halifax fell 7-2 at home last night to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Marton Frk and Garrett Clarke each scored for Halifax in the loss. Cape Breton scored four times in the first period in a game that included six fights between the provincial rivals. Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil was pulled after allowing three goals on three shots in the opening frame… the Herd played on pink ice last night for Pink in the Rink. They fell to 0-3 all-time with the coloured ice… rookie import Martin Frk has played as advertised. He leads the team in points with 15 and assists with nine… Carl Gelinas leads the Mooseheads in goals with seven… impressive rookie defenseman Simon Desmarais has been turning heads with his strong play. He has a team best +7 rating to go along with his two goals and one assist… it isn’t clear who will start in goal tonight. Corbeil, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, is the teams number one netminder. He has a record of 4-5-0-1, a goals against average of 3.68, and a save percentage of 0.868%. Backup Anthony Terenzio, an American, has a record of 1-3-0-0, a GAA of 3.91, and a SV% of 0.860… according to EliteProspects.com, Terenzio is one of only six American born players in the league this season… the Mooseheads are the second youngest team in the league with an average age of 17.41 years.

HELLO BOBBY SMITH
If you haven’t heard by now, Mooseheads majority owner and former NHLer Bobby Smith is now the teams head coach. The move was made earlier this week. Former head coach Cam Russell remains with the organization. Smith won his coaching debut on Tuesday with a win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. He suffered his first loss last night.

It was a bit of a surprising move given that Russell and the Mooseheads appeared to be on the slow upswing after two straight last place finishes.

FLASHBACK
The first meeting between these two teams this season came on September 18 at Harbour Station when Saint John downed Halifax 5-2. In the game, a scoreless first period led to Saint John exploding for four goals in the second period in a seven minute span. Halifax tried to climb back in the third but could not beat the powerful Sea Dogs offense. In the match, Gabriel Bourret, Ryan Tesink, Zach Phillips, Michael Kirkpatrick, and Jonathan Huberdeau all scored goals for the winners. Travis Randell and Brent Andrews scored for the Moose.

Then on October 1, the Sea Dogs defeated the Herd 4-3 in a shootout at the Metro Centre. Stephen MacAulay, Steven Anthony, and Jonathan Huberdeau all scored for Saint John while Halifax replied with markers from Carl Gelinas (2) and Martin Frk. Huberdeau won the game for Saint John in the shootout.

LAST SEASON
From the Sea Dogs’ website:

Saint John won seven of their eight matchups with Halifax last year, outscoring the Mooseheads 38-16 in the process. Several Sea Dogs players put up solid numbers versus the Herd in 2009-10, including dynamic winger Zack Phillips (8GP-1G-8A-9P), star centre Michael Kirkpatrick (8GP-2G-6A-8P), and ultra-dependable blue-liner Pierre Durepos (+10 rating in 8GP). Local minor hockey product Aidan Kelly, meanwhile, scored his first career Q-league goal against the Mooseheads last season - on February 17 at the Halifax Metro Centre (during a 6-2 win for Saint John).

SCRATCHES
Steven Anthony returned to the Sea Dogs lineup so Jason Cameron was the odd man out. Defenseman Tyrone Sock was also a healthy scratch.

DOGS LOSE TO ROY, TITAN
A strong goaltending performance by Olivier Roy helped propel the Acadie-Bathurst Titan past the Saint John Sea Dogs by score of 5-1 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action last night at the KC Irving Regional Centre.

Roy stopped 36-of-37 shots to pick up the win. Many of his saves were of the unreal category, with his best coming late in the third on a nice move by Scott Oke. The Sea Dogs just couldn’t get anything past the netminder despite throwing just about everything at him.

Bathurst opened the scoring at 3:45 of the first when a pass from the corner found Zach O’Brien parked in front with a wide open cage. But Zach Phillips would respond with a wrist shot that beat Roy at 11:04 to tie the game at 1-1.

But the Titan got their lead back at 17:28 when Radovan Pulis beat Jacob DeSerres with a sharp angle shot. 23 seconds later Vincent Arseneau backhanded the disc up and over DeSerres to give the Titan a 3-1 lead.

A crucial moment on the game happened at 19:02 when Ryan Tesink was hauled down on a partial break. He was awarded a penalty shot but missed the net completely on his chance. By not scoring, the Titan kept much of the momentum going into intermission.

In the second, Saint John was the better team for most of the frame and outshot the Titan 15-5 in the process. But the Titan were very opportunistic, scoring in the final minute of the period in what could only be described as a deflating goal against for the Sea Dogs.

In the final stanza, David Gilbert scored on a solo rush as he went around DeSerres and deposited the disc into the cage to make it a 5-1 final.

DUBOIS WINS HUS DEBUT
Interim-head coach Eric Dubois recorded his first win as Titan head coach last night. Dubois was an assistant with the club until Ron Choules was fired on Thursday afternoon.

“They really played for Ron tonight,'' Dubois said to the Telegraph-Journal. “They were very affected this week by the departure of Ron. He was like a big brother to them."

NO MORE STREAKING
With the loss, the Sea Dogs’ five game winning streak came to an end. All five of the wins came on home ice with wins over Moncton, Montreal, Rimouski, Rouyn-Noranda, and Victoriaville.

FRANCHISE RECORD
Jacob DeSerres set a new Sea Dogs franchise record for the longest shutout streak by a debuting goalie in club history. The record now stands at 63 minutes and 45 seconds.

Karel St. Laurent held the previous record with a time 60 minutes and 54 seconds.

DeSerres recorded a shutout in his Sea Dogs debut last Saturday in a 2-0 win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

ROAD WOES
The Sea Dogs have been downright dominant at Harbour Station this season. The same can’t said for their play on the road.

Saint John dropped their fourth road game of the year and now have a 2-3-0-1 record when being the visiting team. They have been outscored 21-18 in the process. One of their two road wins came via a shootout.

The Sea Dogs certainly have not been the same team away from Harbour Station.

IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME
After going 8-0-0-0 against their provincial rivals last season, the Sea Dogs finally fell to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

As News 88.9’s Tim Roszell pointed out in the dying minutes of the game, the Sea Dogs have not lost to the Titan since December 27, 2008 when they fell 4-3 in a shootout at the KC Irving Regional Centre. Only Steven Anthony, Mike Thomas, Simon Despres, and Michael Kirkpatrick are still with the team since that game.

Big stars like Alexi Dostoinov, Shea Kewin, and Josh Schram were also on the team. Chris DiDomenico was away at the World Juniors.

POOR DEFENSE
The Sea Dogs defense was one of the sore spots in the game. Although the big offensive guns were not firing as well as they often do, Saint John’s defensive game really struggled.

Bathurst had several breakaway chances and a number of odd man rushes. Many of the Titan’s scoring opportunities came after a Saint John turnover. Not one Saint John player had a plus rating while only three – the line of Jonathan Huberdeau, Zach Phillips, and Tomas Jurco – had a plus rating. Ryan Tesink and Scott Oke each had a zero rating.

THE CROWD
Bathurst fans are very close to extinction, but that didn’t stop them from performing the ‘Ole, Ole’ chant near the end of the game. Either way, there was the usual small crowd at the KC Irving Regional Centre.

QUICK HITS
Vincent Arseneau was Vincent Arseneau all game… it was the first time in two games that the opposing team Saint John was facing recorded more than three shots on goal… the Sea Dogs will not play Bathurst again until next month, a month in which the two teams play each other three times… Jacob DeSerres played his first QMJHL road game and picked up his first loss. He made some nice saves… five of the eight QMJHL games last night were decided by more than three goals… to relive the game, check out the SN Live Blog replay… because the game was played in Bathurst, there are no video highlights or photo gallery.

NEXT GAME
Tonight, the Sea Dogs travel to Halifax to face the Herd at 7:00 pm.

Friday, October 22, 2010

BATHURST – Olivier Roy showed why he is the leading contender to be the starting netminder for Canada’s world junior team this December.

The Edmonton Oilers prospect was money in the bank for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan this evening, stopping 36 shots and help guide his team to a 5-1 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs Friday night at the KC Irving Regional Centre.

Zach O’Brien, Radovan Pulis, Vincent Arseneau, Sebastien Trudeau, and David Gilbert all scored for the Titan who were playing their first game under Eric Dubois following the Ron Choules firing.

Zach Phillips scored the lone Saint John goal. But despite the lack of goal production, the Sea Dogs did have several quality chances but were stoned solid by Roy. Jacob DeSerres made a number of big stops in the Sea Dogs crease but he wasn’t given much help by his defense. Most of the Titan goals and scoring opportunities came off turnovers or odd-man rushes.

Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant seemed to send a message late in the third by benching some of his star players in favour of younger ones. The coaching staff will no doubt be upset with their club who still have not played a solid 60 minutes of hockey this year.

FIRST PERIOD
Right off the bat Jonathan Huberdeau was stopped in close. Then Mike Thomas had the puck with Danick Gauthier skating alongside but had his pass blocked by a Titan defender.

Bathurst opened the scoring at 3:45 after a pass from the corner found Zach O’Brien parked in front. O’Brien roofed the puck up and over Jacob DeSerres to give the Titan a 1-0 lead.

The Sea Dogs were buzzing after the Titan goal with lots of pressure in the opposing zone. After Olivier Hotte was robbed on a one-time chance before Jonathan Huberdeau was called for boarding at 8:37. The Titan had some good pressure on the Dogs but they could not find the back of the cage.

Zach Phillips tied the match at 11:04 after the Titan turned the puck over in their own zone. Phillips ripped the puck from the hash marks and beat Olivier Roy short side to make it a 1-1 hockey game.

Tomas Jurco avoided a huge collision with Vincent Arseneau at center ice moments after the goal. Then Ryan Tesink had a good chance in front with the puck loose in the crease. The disc squirted to the side of the net where Aidan Kelly was sitting but he could not score.

After David Gilbert was stoned by the chest of DeSerres, the Titan would get their lead back soon after. Radovan Pulis found the puck at a sharp angle and beat DeSerres between the legs to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Less than a minute later at 17:51, a turnover at center gave Christopher Losier the puck. He sent it ahead to Vincent Arseneau who beat DeSerres with a nifty backhand shot into the corner to make it a 3-1 game.

Tesink almost broke free on a breakaway at 19:02 but was hauled down. He was awarded a penalty shot but missed the net on his free chance.

The Titan had several great opportunities near the end of the frame with Gilbert having the best chance when he stepped around two Saint John defenders and forced DeSerres to make a great stop down low.

Shots in the first period were 13-11 for the home team.

SECOND PERIOD
Michael Kirkpatrick had the first good chance in the period when he let a wrister go that forced Roy to make a quick pad save.

Guillaume Cloutier got called at 3:49 for hooking. On the power play, the Titan had some decent pressure but no great chances. Kirkpatrick had a good chance while shorthanded, walking around Bathurst’s defense and getting a solid sharp angle shot off.

A few moments after Hotte nailed Stanislav Galiev along the boards, the Sea Dogs were given a man advantage opportunity at 10:30 when Arseneau got called for hooking. After DeSerres stopped the puck in the corner on a dump in, Simon Despres tried to the throw the puck down the ice but it was stopped at the blue line by Sebastien Trudeau. He threw it on net just after DeSerres got back, forcing the Sea Dogs netminder to make a nice save.

The Sea Dogs’ only good chance on the power play came after a high shot sat on the top of the net before being cleared out of danger.

Saint John’s third and fourth line really stepped up at times in the middle frame. After Stephen MacAulay, Gauthier, and Thomas had a few good chances, Aidan Kelly let a point shot go through traffic that was knocked down by the arm of Roy.

But with 47 seconds to go in the period, Trudeau was sprung on a breakaway. The right winger made a deke before going to the forehand and beating DeSerres through the five-hole to make it a 4-1 game.

Shots in the middle stanza were 15-5 Saint John.

THIRD PERIOD
On a two-on-one play, Nathan Beaulieu fired a shot on goal but was robbed by an outstanding old school pad stack save by Roy. But on the play, the Titan were given a penalty and gave the Sea Dogs another power play opportunity.

The Sea Dogs had a hard time getting anything going on the man advantage and failed to score. When it ended, Beaulieu fired a point shot that deflected off the glove of Roy and stayed out.

Saint John’s defense continued to struggled as Pulis broke through and got a good backhand shot off that was denied by DeSerres. Then at 7:44, it looked as though Thomas and Arseneau would drop the gloves. But as Thomas was ready to dance, Arseneau started to skate away. Both received roughing penalties.

The Sea Dogs got some good scoring chances going late in the frame. Phillips walked out from the corner and entered the crease but was denied by Roy. Then Scott Oke, of all people, was sent in alone, performing an amazing deke that saw him try to dangle the puck around Roy. But the Edmonton Oilers prospect kicked out his leg to keep the puck in out if the blue paint.

Bathurst put the nail in the Sea Dogs’ coffin at 13:50 as Gilbert accepted a Danny Chaisson pass and walked around DeSerres to make it a 5-1 game.

Shots in the final period were 9-6 Titan.

Bathurst went 0/4 on the power play while Saint John went 0/2.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Halifax Saturday night to face the Mooseheads at 7:00 pm.

LINEUP NOTES
Per News 88.9's Tim Roszell, Steven Anthony returns to the lineup tonight after missing Sunday’s game with strep throat and a fever. Forward Jason Cameron and defenseman Tyrone Sock are both healthy scratches.

DeSERRES LOOKS TO MAKE HISTORY
Jacob DeSerres will need to play only one-minute and 55 seconds more of shutout hockey and he will set a new Sea Dogs team record for longest shutout streak to start a career with Saint John.

Karel St. Laurent, the man DeSerres put out of a job, currently holds the record with a shutout streak of 61:54. The 20-year old netminder shutout the Val-d’Or Foreurs in September of 2008 in his Sea Dogs debut a Harbour Station. The next day, Jeremy Gouchie, then of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, scored 1:54 into the game to end goose egg.

LOVIN’ THE BATHURST
Tonight will be the first regular season meeting between the two teams. For the past two seasons, Saint John and Bathurst have met up at the KC Irving Regional Centre to kick of the season.

In the 2008-09 season opener for both clubs, Kevin Charland scored in overtime to give the Sea Dogs a 3-2 victory. Then last year, Jonathan Huberdeau scored the shootout winner to give the Dogs their first win of a very successful campaign.

(Ed. Note: We’d like to introduce ‘Flashback Fridays’ here on SN. Each week, we look back at an event that went down over the past six years. Send any suggestions to stationnation@yahoo.ca.)

There are some great Saint John Sea Dogs videos on YouTube.

This is not one of them.

Inspired by the Sea Dogs’ theme song making its way onto YouTube, Randy Corey of FreddyPuck.com sent this in. Below you see Kenny MacLean, Platinum Blonde's former bassist, brutalizing the Canadian Anthem at Harbour Station during the 2006-07 season:

The Sea Dogs were forced to give a public apology after the incident.

"We've gotten absolutely inundated by calls and by e-mails," said one time Sea Dogs executive director Dave Turk to the CBC. "They were embarrassed. They were enraged by the treatment the national anthem got, and rightly so. I think the national anthem is a source of pride for most people in Saint John and getting that sort of treatment is not what we wanted to do."

"One of the [lines] is 'We stand on guard for thee.' Well, he said, 'We stand in line for thee,' " said Ann Comeau who attended the game. "One line, he left out about four words. Then he kind of hummed a bit to make up the missing space where he left the words out."

Judging by his entrance and the way he introduced himself, MacLean was in his own little world that night.

VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea DogsRecord: 10-2-0-1 (2nd in Maritimes Division)Last Game: 4-2 win vs Victoriaville SundayLeading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (13GP-9G-8A-17Pts)Notes: At 10-2-0-1, the Saint John Sea Dogs sit in second place in the Maritimes Division, fourth overall in the QMJHL, and were ranked eighth on this week’s BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings… Saint John is coming off a 5-0-0-0 homestand that saw the club defeat Moncton, Montreal, Rimouski, Rouyn-Noranda, and Victoriaville… Stephen MacAulay scored a pair while Stanislav Galiev and Jonathan Huberdeau added singles in the Sea Dogs’ 4-2 win over the Victoriaville Tigres on Sunday. Frederic Piche made 17 saves in net to pick up the victory… the Sea Dogs are winners of five straight entering this evenings contest and are 7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games… in the past two games, Saint John has allowed only three shots on goal in the first period in each. But the Sea Dogs have struggled with consistency of late and have been unable to keep the dominance going for a full 60 minutes. They look to change that tonight… Jacob DeSerres will likely get his first taste of a QMJHL road game in Bathurst. The goaltender, who was picked up by Saint John off waivers two weeks ago, has only made one start, a 2-0 shutout win over Rouyn-Noranda ast Saturday where he was barely tested. Bathurst should give him his first test this evening… Tomas Jurco has still not taken a penalty this season… Stanislav Galiev has been hot of late. He enters the game having scored a goal in each of his past three matches and four in his last five… Steven Anthony is expected to return to the Sea Dogs lineup tonight after missing Sunday’s game with flu like problems… Jonathan Huberdeau continues to lead the team in points with 17 in 13 games. He also leads the team in the plus/minus category with a +12 rating and his tied with Tomas Jurco for the team lead in goals with nine… Michael Kirkpatrick leads the team with 12 assists.

HOME TEAM: Acadie-Bathurst TitanRecord: 10-5-0-0 (3rd in Maritimes Division)Last Game: 3-2 loss at Halifax TuesdayLeading Scorer: Gabriel Levesque (15GP-7G-17A-24Pts)Notes: The Acadie-Bathurst Titan currently sit third in the Maritimes Division with a 10-5-0-0 record. They are sixth overall in the QMHJL and were an honourable mention in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings this week… the Titan are 6-4-0-0 in their last 10 games and have lost two straight… Bathurst’s losing streak began last Sunday with a brutal 8-1 home loss against the Rimouski Oceanic who were on the tail end of a long road swing through Atlantic Canada. On Tuesday, Bathurst fell 3-2 in Halifax. Vincent Arseneau and Sebastien Payette scored for the Titan while Olivier Roy allowed three goals on 27 shots. The Mooseheads scored the game winning goal with four seconds remaining in the third period… Bathurst has the second best penalty kills in the league with a rating of 0.852%... Gabriel Levesque leads the Titan in points with 24 and assists with 17. His totals are good for sixth in league scoring and fourth among assists leaders… the Titan have been struggling at the KC Irving Regional Centre this season. They are just 3-2 at home and have been outscored 22-15 along the way with their most recent loss being the 8-1 blowout against Rimouski… Sebastien Trudeau leads Bathurst in goals with eight… Sebastien Payette is a team worst -8 while Gabriel Levesque is a team best +4… not surprisingly, pest Vincent Arseneau leads the Titan in penalty minutes with 29 in just 15 games. Christopher Losier is a close second with 28 penalty minutes… all-star goaltender Olivier Roy should get the call between the pipes tonight. The Edmonton Oilers prospect, who will play in the Subway Super Series this November at Harbour Station, had his struggles against the Sea Dogs last season at times. This year, the netminder has a record of 4-3-0-0, a goals against average of 2.64, and a save percentage of 0.913%.

He was suspended for four games following the play and served the first game on Tuesday. Lessard led the Titan in scoring last season and has six goals and five assists this season in 12 matches.

"I thought that was a pretty selfish penalty on his part," said now-former Titan head coach Ron Choules of Lessard's actions that resulted in a five-minute major and a game misconduct to the Telegraph-Journal. "His man scored a goal and he took it out on him. We play hard-nosed hockey but we don't take cheap shots. I thought that was uncalled for and a cheap shot on Jo's part."

CHOULES IS GONE
As reported yesterday, the Titan have fired head coach Ron Choules. Assistant coach Eric Dubois will be coaching the Titan on an intern basis.

"There were 24 players there waiting for me," Choules said to the Telegraph-Journal about his departure. "To me that says it all. There was a lot of tears. A lot of hugs."

The last time Bathurst made a coaching change mid-season the club made it to the President’s Cup quarter-finals.

The Sea Dogs won all eight of their matchups with the Titan in 2009-10, outscoring their regional adversaries 47-19 in the process. Michael Kirkpatrick (7GP-7G-6A-13P), Stanislav Galiev (8GP-3G-8A-11P), Nathan Beaulieu (8GP-1G-10A-11P), Simon Després (7GP-3G-4A-7P), and Kevin Gagné (7GP-1G-6A-7P) all averaged a point-per-game or better versus Acadie-Bathurst last year.

FUN FACTS

John Moore Video: Olivier Roy on Team Canada, the Titan, and him just being an overall great human being.

The Titan’s leading scorer, Gabriel Levesque, was acquired an off-season deal with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.